(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a spout assembly, and more particularly, to one that can be externally locked to the faucet for fast assembly.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
As people now demand more on the product quality, the manufacturers also demand more on the process quality since good process quality is the only way to effective upgrade the appearance of the product. Manufacturers of products such as the dial of a wristwatch, the appearance of an automobile and assembly of sanitary ware have been improving the assembly appearance to directly promote product image and indirectly stimulate the market demands and higher selling price. FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawing of the present invention shows a structure of the prior art of a spout assembly 20 adapted to a faucet 10. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 2A for an assembly of the spout assembly 20 and the faucet 10 in the prior art, the spout assembly 20 is usually directly welded to a water outlet 13 on the faucet 10 to fix the spout assembly 20 to the outer circumference of the faucet 10. However, the prior art is found with the following defectives:
1. The surface of the welded joint prevents easy access for finishing. As a protruded welded joint 22 is located at a corner where prevents easy access and the spout assembly 20 relates to a round tube making the use of mechanical tools very difficult to access for surface finish; and even the finishing is provided, the surface remains comparatively rough.
2. Surface is stripped after plating process. Since the faucet must go through the conventional welding process before entering into the next process of plating for finishing. However, during the plating process, the rough surface of the welded joint 22 will fail a consistent surface attachment of the plated surface. Consequently, the plated surface on the welded joint 22 will start to strip off to increase the percentage of defectives of a production lot.
The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved structure of the spout assembly 20 that can be fixed to the faucet without welding, thus to improve the appearance of the finish product.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved structure of the spout assembly 20 that permits to have both of the spout assembly 20 and the faucet 10 to be separately plated before fixing the spout assembly 20 to the faucet 10 for rapid assembly of the faucet at a reduced production cost.
To achieve the purposes, a connector is provided in the faucet 10 to be inserted into a locking sleeve provided in the spout assembly 20.